That's one big, glittery snowflake.

It sure is.



For:

CPS: pick your sketch - #194
The Crazy Challenge: let it snow
Fussy and Fancy: snow

A couple for 365 Cards

When I was trying to get all the cards done earlier, I was really inspired by the challenges at 365 Cards.

First it was this for Thinking In Threes (3 ribbons, 3 buttons, 3 holly berries)



Then it was this for Monday's ad inspired challenge.



Hmmmm, is that the prancing and pawing of hooves on the roof I hear? Nope, too early yet. ;)

The floor didn't get swept

But the cards got made, the baking got baked, the laundry (mostly) got folded and the kids were happy (and suppose to be asleep but I hear some thumping going on).

This was the second last card I made for today.



For:

4 Crafty Chicks: sketch
City Crafter: vintage Christmas
Southern Girls: vintage
Aud Sentiments: anything goes
Charisma Cardz: pearls & lace

Darn Zots!

I was kinda in love with them, ya know? That was until they almost ripped this angel's head clean off.



For:

365 Cards: cute
Really Reasonable Ribbon: photo inspiration
Crafty Creations: angel
Papertake Weekly: anything goes
Design Dollies: only one cardstock, patterned paper, word, image and embellishment

Ack!

I've got, like, 6 Christmas cards left to make and a bunch of baking to do, and that's just the Christmas stuff! I've also got piles of laundry to fold, floors to sweep (before the dog hair completely takes it over) and I'm assuming my kids will want to be fed and cared for today. So, as I said, Ack!

I'll probably still be posting Christmas cards after Christmas. That's if I ever want to see the colours red and green together again!



For:

AiFactory: anything goes
Paper Sundaes: cut it out
The ABC Challenge: K for keep it simple
Belli Challenge: Christmas
Design Dollies: only one cardstock, patterned paper, word, image and embellishment With the embelli I wasn't sure if it was one type (as the one example has just buttons but lots of them) or just 1 embelli period. Hope mine is okay.

Squigglefly!

Just a little bit ago I was contacted by Holly from Squigglefly asking if I would like to be on their Design Team. Me! Can you believe it? Poached by digi sites! (Okay, poached might be too stong a word. Probably more like, "We need someone else? I guess she'll do. ;) )

Anyway, my dt term doesn't actually start until January but I couldn't resist celebrating the honour by making a card from a Squigglefly image (which you can get for yourself here). Isn't she awesome? It's a Christmas ostrich! And she's carrying gifts! Really, what could be better......What's that Oswalda? The gifts are for me? Oh, dearie, you shouldn't have!



For:

Cute Card Thursday: one for the kids
Allsorts: anything goes
Aly's Sunday Challenge: anything goes
Paper Playtime: Christmas
Top Tip Tuesday: get embellishing

Banner Christmas

I like how this turned out. Maybe someday, if I get really ambitious, I'll make an actual banner like the one on the card.




For:

Paper Playtime: Christmas
Corrosive: non-traditional Christmas
Top Tip: Christmas inspired
Crafty Ann's: anything goes
EtsyInspired: For this pendant from LingGlass. The shape resembles the flags in the banner and the colour is similar to the one piece of cardstock.

I am so punny

Well, at least I amuse myself.

Digi is from, you guessed it, Bugaboo Stamps.

For:

Cards for Men: Christmas cards
Cupcake Craft: non-traditional Christmas
Top Tip Tuesday: Christmas inspired
Freshly Brewed: Merry Christmas

Christmas is for kids

And so is this card. My middle kid to be exact.



For:

City Crafter: let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
Papertake: red & green must not be seen
Paper Playtime: snowmen
Ann's Creative Nook: non-traditional colours of Christmas
Paper Cutz: snowflake or snowman

Pointsettia and pearls

When all was said and done I found the sentiment to be a bit too large for the card. The sentiment is a very sticky sticker. It would have taken a Christmas miracle for me to be able to pull it off without completely wrecking the card. So, on it stays.




For:

Tuesday Throwdown: CAS
Aud Sentiments: "Happy Holidays"
Cute Card Thursday: flowers

Nothing says Christmas like a penguin

Well, not literally, of course. Afaik, penguins can't talk. (And really, not even figuratively. I was being a bit sarcastic with that blog title.) But, in all honesty, who could resist this cute digi from Bugaboo Stamps? I sure couldn't, I even paid for it!



For:

The Pixie Cottage: sketch + sparkle & shine
The Crazy Challenge: all I want for Christmas is you
Catch the Bug: sparkle & shine
Tuesday Taggers: deck the halls
Freshly Brewed: sparkle & shine

Oh little town of Bethlehem

Just ignore the fact that Bethlehem has my fingerprint over top of one of its houses. (I think Bethlehem is still trying to get over the word I said when I saw what I had unknowingly done.)



For:

ECP: Christmas
A Spoonful of Sugar: Christmas card
AiFactory: Holiday/Christmas
Allsorts: Christmas

That's not a card!

And it's not even a scrapbook page! But it is still made out of paper.

Every year at Christmas I always make something for my closest friends (some of whom I've been friends with since elementary school) and their families. When my kids were babies, my efforts were smaller, a jar of homemade jam or some Christmas baked goodies. In the past few years I've gotten a little more elaborate.

This year......quilled fridge magnets. I took a pic of my 3 favs.



I hadn't done any quilling for awhile. I'd actually forgotten that I do enjoy it.

For:

Crafty Creations: a beary project
The Paper Variety: for a child
Paper Sundaes: gift it
Fussy and Fancy: anything but a card
Charisma Cardz: a Christmas gift

Black snowflakes?

Darn that global warming!



For:

Papertake: red and green must not be seen
City Crafter Challenge: let it snow
Creative Card Crew: anything goes
Little Red Wagon: use a die cut
Lollipop Crafts: welcome winter
Paper Playtime: snowflakes

Who needs red and green?

While I have made some cards this year that follow the "mainstream" Christmas colours, I've made so many more that use non-traditional colours. Case in point...



Now, I realize that blue and white are hardly wacky colours to use for Christmas, and they are becoming a commonly used Christmas colour combo (but wait 'til you see what I've got coming up next ;-) ).

For:

Charisma Cardz: sketch + no image
Daring Cardmakers: December birthstone - turquoise They are sponsored by Flourish With a Bling this week.
Top Tip Tuesday: use ribbon
Penny's Challenges: Merry Christmas
ABC Challenge: J is for jewels

I'm a bit grouchy

First of all, I should say that I'm not a fan of change when it comes to something I use all the time. For example, my husband knows well by now not to adjust the seat in my vehicle (luckily we're basically the same height) because then he has to watch me adjust the seat in minuscule amounts for the next 3 days in an (unsuccessful) attempt to get the seat back to exactly the same spot it was before. (Same thing goes with the tilt steering but after the time I watched him valiantly try to squeeze out of my vehicle without lifting the steering wheel I graciously gave him a bye on that.)

My point being...my computer went klabluie on Sunday and to fix it basically all of its guts needed replaced. yay It's back now but it's brought with it a weird, icky font that's hard on my eyes. I do know how to change it, and have done so, to the tune of about 50 different fonts. Problem is, I have no idea what font I was using before. And that's the font I want. (Imagine that being said with a foot stamp and a pouty lip.)

Anyhoo, here's a card.



Oh yeah, and the new fan in the computer is noisier than the old one too.

For:

Crafty Ann's Challenge: Christmas
Speedy the Cat's Friends: red and green Christmas
Cards for Men: Christmas
Ann's Creative Nook: red or green or gold

Oh Christmas Tree

How lovely are your......um...designer paper that was carefully paper pieced over a freebie from Digi Stamp Boutique.

Hmmm.....just doesn't have the same ring as the carol, eh?

For:

Cupcake Inspriations: cupcake photo inspiration
Paper Playtime: Christmas carol inspired
Totally Gorjuss: Oh Christmas tree
Cute Card Thursday: the blues
Paper Cutz: Christmas + 2 designer papers

Hey! You're not done yet!

Now, in my cardmaking career, which has been going on for a year now, I've made cards that I've liked and cards that I haven't liked. I've made cards that I loved and cards that I thought I loved and decided later on that they really weren't all that. There were cards that were okay, cards that I hated, and cards that would do in a pinch. There were also some that went directly in the garbage, some that I pulled out of the garbage, pulled off the embellis and then tossed them back in, and there was even one card that was so, so, so incredibly bad that I kept it (hidden under stuff lest anyone see it) just to remind myself of what a horrible idea it was. (Believe me, you've never seen a card so fugly.)

But never in all this time, have I completed a card, taken a picture of it, got it ready for upload, and have it say, "Hey! You're not done with me yet!)

(Okay, well, maybe not literally.)

So this



insisted on this.



So, card, you happy now?

Once again I used a snowman digi freebie from Torico's Digital Gallery.

For:

Mojo Monday: sketch
Top Tip Tuesday: anything goes
AiFactory: winter
Colour Create: gray, green & white
The Paper Variety: tic tac toe - make a card, holiday theme, use a die cut machine
Tuesday Throwdown: embellish it
Design Dollies: layer upon layer upon layer


Now, just to make it interesting (and I have to admit, I'm curious to see how many people actually read my blog).....if I get over 30 different people commenting on this post by next Friday (the 10th), I will post a picture of the aforementioned derriere-ugly card. I guess I feel that as long as you know, that I know, it's actually brilliant in its awfulness then I won't feel too embarrassed about it. (Truth be told, it's so hideous, it's funny. If it was someone else's creative mistake, I'd laugh my face off at it.)

Wish I had more baker's twine

But I made do.




For:

Crazy 4 Challenges: script paper
The Corrosive Challenge: things that move
Pile It On: feathers 'n fur
The Pink Elephant: blue, green & red
Speedy the Cat: bow

Xmas

I'm not that fond of that word. I know the reasoning behind why it's used as a short form for Christmas but I don't really "get" it, kwim? Still, there's times when I've used it, like this card, which just didn't have enough room for Christmas. Plus, it does actually fit with the tone of the card.

Loooove this paper. And I think that it's totally cool that the snowman has a cat coming out of his hat. Nothing says Xmas quite like that, eh?



For:

Little Red Wagon: Basic Grey
Paper Cutz: anything goes
Fussy and Fancy: Christmas without red and green

Imagine, imagine, you can imagine.....

Polkaroo (insert whatever Polkaroo is doing right now). Imagine, imagine, you can imagine (insert the second verse of whatever Polkaroo is doing).

Wow, that takes me back. That was Canadian tv for children at its finest, my friends.

So, now that you're all done imaging what Polkaroo is doing you can imagine something for me. (Polkaroo was just a warm up.) So, picture this: The snowflakes have beautiful perfectly-sized pink pearls in the centre of them. You can see them right? Aren't they lovely? And, after my next trip to my not-so-local craft store, you won't have to use your imagination at all.



For:

Sweet Sunday Sketch: sketch
Charisma Cardz: for the girls
Crazy 4 Challenges: circles
Speedy the Cat: circle
Totally Gorjuss: non-traditional Christmas colours
Cute Card Thursday: blast from the past Challenge 121 - get a head start (on Christmas cards)

Watch your back, Martha

Ever make a card, that as soon as you sit down, you know exactly what you want to do? And, since it's a simple idea, it comes together so quickly and smoothly and perfectly that you start to wonder if you might be a the next crafting guru in the making?

Well, that's never happened to me. Take this card for instance, which is so ridiculously CAS, you would think it wouldn't have taken long. Wrong. This card started out way different. And that didn't work. So I tried something else. And that didn't work. And that went on and on for about 96 different arrangements. Okay, maybe not 96. But maybe 9, and definitely at least 6.....actually you could probably add 9 and 6 together and get the correct number.

But, I did finally get it to work.



For:

4 Crafty Chicks: photo inspiration
The ABC Challenge: I is for ice and snow
ECP: snow
A Spoonful of Sugar: anything goes

Poinsettia........

.....they're suppose to have flowers on them, right? Don't mind me, I'm just amusing myself. I still have a poinsettia from last Christmas. All the flowers fell off by the summer, but it's still alive, (which, given my track record with indoor plants, is amazing in itself) and growing new leaves but, without drastic measures that should have started in January, it won't flower again. Now I feel guilty about getting rid of it, ya know? I mean it has been with us for almost a year, it's like it's part of the family now. A neglected, barely watered, shoved aside part of the family though. (Oh, so many not-very-nice jokes going on inside my head right now.)

At least the card has a flower on it.



Well, by golly. I just passed by my poinsettia plant and took a good look at it. By some fluke some of the leaves are actually starting to turn red. (Which are how the flowers form 'cause they aren't actually flowers at all, just leaves that have turned red.) Great, I'll never be able to throw it out now.

Digi is from Squigglefly.

For:

Papertake: cut it out (punch or die cut)
A Spoonful of Sugar: anything goes
Crafty Creations: Christmas is coming
Creative Inspirations: red, green & gold

My Visa Commercial

1 plain white card from a value pack bought on sale - 23¢
1/8th of a piece of white cardstock - 7.5¢
5 star bling stickers from a package bought on sale - 1¢
1 piece of white computer paper - 1¢
A bit of ink (computer and stamping), and Prismacolour pencil lead - Oh, lets go with a high guestimate at 5¢
Digi from Torico's Digital Gallery - free

Part of an afternoon spent between arena visits making a card I quite like; priceless.

Yeah, I know it doesn't have the same imagery as the actual commercials but you get the picture.



For:

Southern Girls: favourite colour My favourite colour is light blue but I also love cards that are black and white with a splash of colour.
Delightful Challenges: Baby, it's cold outside.
Paper Play: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
Paper Cutz: Christmas with bling
AiFactory: bling
ECP: snow
Lollipop Crafts: Christmas
Cards for Men: Christmas cards
Whoopsie Daisy: holiday
Pile It On: winter means.....

From Our House to Yours

That got me thinking about something my mother says: "The one who cleans it, owns it." So I guess this card should say, "From MY House To Yours. (But I guess that's only really truthful a couple of hours before guests are due to arrive.)



Digi is a freebie from Bird's Blog. Fabby, eh?

I'd also like to add that the windows are covered with Glossy Accents, which does not show up in the pic.

For:

Waltzing Mouse: sketch
Get Sketchy: inspiration from around the house
AiFactory: bling
Really Reasonable Ribbon: Christmas
Meljen's: sparkle & shine
My Time to Craft: something with a window
Pollycraft: a glittery Christmas
Catch the Bug: Christmas

Baby Duck

(And I ain't talking about the wine.)



Isn't this duck digi too adorable? It's a freebie from Seachelle by the Seashore (which is a great blog name, imo).

Took a break from Christmas cards just 'cause I had to colour it.

For:

2S4Y: sketch
Sentimental Sundays: childhood
Top Tip Tuesday: buttons galore
Tuesday Throwdown: buttons & bows
Lollipop Crafts: very girlie
Charisma Cardz: babies

Simple Noel

I've been making some "more" type cards lately. And, while I like them too, it was time to make a card that was a little more me.



Ah...like slipping into a nice, warm bath at the end of a long, busy day. ;-)

For:

Crazy 4 Challenges: Christmas
EtsyInspired: I couldn't decide which of these two necklaces to pick so I picked both! This necklace for the holly berries and this one for all the white space.
Crafty Cardmakers: dry embossing
Fresh Brewed: show your own style
Cupcake Inspirations: cupcake photo inspiration

Get me another egg nog!

I just couldn't think of a more traditional sentiment that fit this freebie from Bugaboo Stamps. (Hmmmm.....I might end up making another card with this image using this post's title as a sentiment.)




For:

Mojo Monday: sketch (loosely based)
Catch the Bug: anything goes
Fresh Brewed: 2 more more dp
Top Tip Tuesday: use an image/sentiment
Crafty Creations: buttons
AiFactory: use a die cut or punch
Delightful Challenges: glitter

I'm dreaming of a Pink Christmas....

.....well not really. But this card did impress my pink-is-my-most-favourite-colour daughter. I have to admit that it's nice to make a Christmas card using unexpected colours now and again. Plus, and I know this makes me weird, I really like pink and red together. I might even go so far as to say they actually go together and not clash as most of society thinks. But they should never be paired together in a fashion sense though. I would never wear my red leather pants with my fuzzy, nubby pink sweater. That would simply be too much.




For:

Crafty Ann's: Christmas using non-traditional colours
The ABC Challenge: H for holidays
Belli Challenge: old, new, borrowed or blue (old paper, new ribbon)
Creative Inspirations: a pink Christmas
Little Red Wagon: do it in 3s

Happy 1st Anniversary to Little Red Wagon!

One of my most favouritest challenges blogs (yep, that's shameless flattery in an attempt to butter up their DT) is celebrating 1 year of Little Red Wagon challenges. So congrats to them! (And, in truth, they are one of my favourites.) They are offering some yummy blog candy to celebrate, and I have to admit, I'm drooling over here! Their anniversary challenge is to use the colour red and because I would really like to win (yep, I also have very little dignity when it comes to blog candy) I made sure that, even though I'm going to enter this card in some other challenges, Little Red Wagon's challenge was the main focus of the card.



Hmmmm, I think I've got that whole "red" thing covered.

(I would also like to mention I CASED this card.)

***Edited to add: I see the blog candy is going to a randomly drawn winner. Oh well, a little sucking up never hurt anyone.***

For:

Little Red Wagon: red
One Stitch At a Time: Christmas
Top Tip Tuesday: Christmas
Charisma Cardz: with love @ Christmas
ECP: red

CASE Alert!

Sub-Titled: Go Fly a Kite! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

The challenge at Corrosive is to CASE a member of their DT. I took the whole CASE thing one step further and also CASEd Chloe of Chloe's Creative Corner for this kite she added to her layout. (Be sure to check out her other layouts. They are divine!)

I'd also like to point out that if you take the last letter off of CASE my card falls into that category as well. Wow, huh? (And, yes, do read that last sentence with just a hint of sarcasm.)



Clean & Simple: sketch
Corrosive Challenge: CASE DT - I CASEd this CAS card with background stamping from Michelle.
The Crazy Challenge: pearls & swirls
My Time To Craft: quick & cute
Meljen's: use 3 different shapes - diamond, bow, circle

Get back here!

Ever been working on a card based on a sketch when it suddenly starts to slide away from you? This is what happened when I made this card. Now I know that sketches are intended to inspire you and it's not necessary to follow them to the letter. The thing is the rule-follower in me tells me that it's okay to flip a sketch, but it's not okay to make really big alterations. Buuuut the crafter in me says not to sacrifice the card in order to stay on line with the sketch. Oh, the stress of listening to the warring factions! I better soothe them both with some Hallowe'en candy.



(Feel free to weigh in on the sketch issue.)

For:

Get Sketchy: sketch
Embellish: green, yellow, rust + vintage
Aly's Sunday Challenge: distressed
Crafty Ann's: ribbon, gems, embellishment made of paper
A Spoonful of Sugar: relish to embellish
Fresh Brewed: anything goes

Happy Hallowe'en

If you're looking for me later I'll be passed out on the couch in a candy coma.



For:

Taylored Expressions: sketch
Paper Playtime: Hallowe'en
A Spoonful of Sugar: die cutting/punches
Little Red Wagon: Hallowe'en
Crafty Creations: Hallowe'en
Create With Connie & Mary: Hallowe'en haunts
Paper Play: a haunting we will go
Daring Cardmakers: trick or treat

Heartstrings

But don't tug on them. They're not glued down so you'll probably pull them off.



This would make a lovely little card to go with a wedding gift. And that's just my totally unbiased, completely humble opinion.

For:

CPS: sketch
Everything But the Kitchen Sink: sketch
The Corrosive Challenge: no white
City Crafter: vintage
Little Red Wagon: hearts
Charisma Cardz: vintage
Design Dollies: hearts

Here fishy, fishy, fishy!

When I made this card it really sparked the following childhood memory.



Yep, that's still funny.

Here's the card. Super duper CAS but that is kinda my MO.



For:

365 Cards: Friday Five (5 items on card)
Meljen's: anything goes
Paper Sundaes: for someone little
Party Time Tuesday: anything goes birthday

Digi Faux Pas??

Okay, so, I made this card using a free digi from (you guessed it) Bugaboo Stamps. But, the thing is, I didn't use the whole digi, just the head. (That sounds very Hallowe'eny doesn't it?) Now, I'm wondering if that's bad digi etiquette. I do know that it would be very bad form to alter an artist's digi stamp but is it okay to omit part, or cover it up???

I'd really appreciate your thoughts and/or opinions on this matter. So, leave a comment! This card will be entered into the Catch the Bug (Bugaboo) challenge so at least the artist will be made aware of it.

Thanks!



For:

Catch the Bug: sweet (It's stretching it a bit I know, but doesn't it make you want to say awwwww.)
Crazy 4 Challenges: fall/autumn
Crafty Cardmakers: use a freebie
Tuesday Throwdown: anything goes
Top Tip Tuesday: anything goes
Crafty Creations: red, brown & green

Birthday with Buttons

A for-just-about-anybody birthday card (with lots of buttons).



For:

Get Sketchy: sketch
Cards For Men: birthday
Party Time Tuesdays: anything goes birthday
EtsyInspired: For these blue buttons from Capturing Creativity.

Pretty Postcard

Woo hoo! My crafting mojo was flowing freely this past weekend and I made a number of cards. And I actually like them all too!

This one here was definitely out of my comfort zone. When I surfing around challenge sites I saw this



sketch at Posh Designs. I did what I usually do when I see a sketch that's out of my talent league, I snorted and moved on. But then I kept going back to it. (It is a really cool sketch.) Finally I sat down and gave it a go.




Not my usual, but it turned out okay.

For:

Posh Designs: sketch
One Stitch at a Time: embellish it
Colour Throwdown: poppy parade, chocolate chip, pear pizazz & so saffron
Crafty Creations: show a number (I know they're small, but they're there on the postcard.)
Penny's: so long as it flies
Delightful Challenges: metal mania
Paper Cutz: anything goes
Allsorts: Lets play bingo - brads, lace, pearls
City Crafter: take flight
The Shabby Tea Room: photo inspiration
AiFactory: animals

Lonely or Lovely?

Please tell me you think this says "lonely" even though it looks kinda like "lovely" too. The inside says, "without you" so lonely fits a lot better, of course. Though my perverse sense of humour would totally love it if it did say "lovely." Try to find that card at Hallmark.



For:

Papertake: 3 of a kind
Tuesday Throwdown: 3 elements
Little Red Wagon: something old (card base), something new (brads)
Delightful Challenges: something metal
Pixie Dust: fall into fall
Pile It On: things in three (When I first read this I thought it said, "things in trees." Funny how the card could actually work for both!)
Crafty Ann's: digi stamps with favourite colouring medium (Prismacolor pencils)
Paper Sundaes: a change of season
Allsorts: inspiration from a song title (Lonely Without You by Joss Stone)
Ann's Creative Nook: trees, trees everywhere

Firs' years follow me!

I'm a relatively new fan of Harry Potter having just finished the series earlier this year. I'm always slow to jump on the fanfare bandwagon. Wouldn't want to be just another "sheep." And also, just because the world likes it, doesn't necessarily mean I'll like it (or it deserves to be so well loved). I was glad to be proven wrong in this case. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is my favourite book to date. So, baaaaaaaa.

This was a freebie from Bugaboo Stamps.



For:

Catch the Bug: Harry Potter
Little Red Wagon: something old (button), something new (digi)
Paper Cutz: anything goes

Thanksgiving Rant

Okay, so here I sit, at 5:47 on Thanksgiving Day. My parents, who took my kids to a Pumpkin Patch (which was very nice of them, yes) knew that the turkey supper I was making, with all the fixings, was going to be ready at 5:00. My husband, who's out out doing not much of anything, also knew that the aforementioned supper was going to be ready at 5:00. Since no one bothered to show up at 5:00, or even call to say they'd be late, I quickly slammed together a card with them in mind. Call it therapy.





I'm going to eat now, while it's still relatively warm.

Put down the crafting supplies....

....and step away from the card! For some reason I kept trying to add stuff to this card. I tried some ribbon, then some bling, then thought about some stitching. Finally, I convinced myself to leave it alone.



For:

Sweet Sunday Sketch: sketch
Charisma Cardz: autumn colours
Meljen's: Hallowe'en
If the Shoe Fits...: orange
Belli Challenge: numbers
Cards for Men: autumn
Cupcake Inspiration: cupcake photo

Guess where the digi is from...

....you get three guesses and the first two don't count. ;-) Click here to see if you guessed right. (Or you could just look though my blog and see which company is most prominently featured.)



And look how crafty I got, I even fashioned a sheaf of wheat out of raffia.

For:

Taylored Expressions: sketch
Little Red Wagon: make you own embellishment
Paper Cutz: 3 patterned papers
Catch the Bug: anything goes
City Crafter: holiday (Thanksgiving)
Papertake: pick a challenge from the past - 3-2-1 (3 patterned papers, 2 brads, 1 image) from Aug. 24/10

Vroooom, errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt

Not much to say about this one 'cept the picture of it is totally craptastic. I'm out of daylight and it needed to be posted by midnight. I'll probably put a new pic up tomorrow.



(edited to add: I did change the picture. Still not thrilled but it'll do.)

For:

CardPatterns: sketch
Caardcarks: CAS
Pollycraft Challenge: no designer paper

Cute, cuddly Frankenstein

Who could possibly be scared of him? He's a freebie from Bugaboo Stamps.



For:

Catch the Bug: anything goes
Aud Sentiments: Hallowe'en
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle: open
Paper Sundaes: something from stash

I lied, lied, lied!

But I didn't mean to at the time, honest! I wrote about my relationship with Copics in a previous post and said I was just going to have fun with the Copics, my lack of talent be damned, who cares if people said "ew" when they looked at it. Well, it turns out that I care. I'm not really a let-it-go type of person. So, it bugged me. A personality quirk of mine is, I hate not being good at something, so much so, that if I'm not good at it, I won't even do it. Yep, I have no problem with quitting. Except in this case I couldn't quit. A big part of cardmaking is colouring images. And, not only would I miss creating immensely, I have quite a financial investment in supplies and I couldn't let that go to waste.

You're probably wondering if I found a solution to this problem of mine. Well, yes, my follow blogger-crafter, I did. After another frustrating, unproductive round with my Copics, I grabbed a box of Crayola pencil crayons.

Problem solved.



(edited to add: Hmmmmm, the right side bedposts photographed a lot lighter than they actually are. I might take another pic later, I can't right now as it's getting very dark and gloomy out.)

It turns out all the shadowing rules became clear to me and I obviously didn't have the Copic/computer ink problem. Now, I realize it's not perfection, but I am actually happy with it. I've since bought some Prismacolour pencils and I've been experimenting with them. I'm itching to get at some of the free digis on my computer that I haven't been able to use because of my Copic issues. Yipee!

Oh yeah, and the inside reads: Owl be hoping you feel better soon. (Of course that's what it says. What else could it possibly say? ;) )

For:

Taylored Expressions: sketch
Paper Cutz: critter
Paper Sundaes: things with wings
Practical Scrappers: stamps
Crafty Creations: owls
Pixie Dust Studio: swirls
EtsyInspired: for these owls.
Cupcake Inspirations: for their delicious photo inspiration challenge